Jaded
by DragonFire44
Summary: Meliodas and what he has to do.


Disclaimer: I do not own.

I only recently got into this anime.

Contains Magna spoilers.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Jaded

"Hello ~ Cap'n?"

The familiar words washed over Meliodas as he exhaled, the barest flicker pulling at his mouth in a downward motion as he realized his eyes were struggling to open.

"Cap?"

Meliodas felt heavy, his mouth dry, he felt like he had been sleeping for a long time.

What was he last doing?

"Come on Cap'n."

Ban's insistent urging sparked a memory. He and Ban had been doing something. Something important.

Meliodas tried to use his arms to push upwards, realizing he was lying flat on a hard ground. He had been with Ban and fell asleep? On stone ground.

His brows furrowed, that didn't fit. He felt heavy, not like he took a simple nap or even slept too long.

His inner musing was interrupted by a shift in the air near his head, before a hand settled cautiously on his left shoulder.

"Come on Capt'in. We made it," the words stopped as Ban gave a light shake to his shoulder.

But the words was enough to strike Meliodas with remembrance. And with a shock he wasn't sure he was able to prevent from showing on his face, he pried his eyes open.

Ban's face came into view, his mouth in a firm set frown, his brow furrowed, a hint of concern evident in his red eyes.

His mouth parted, but soundless air was all that came out.

Ban's frown vanished into a grin, his hand pulling away from his shoulder, "there you are~."

Meliodas blinked several times and felt like grinning like an idiot as he took in what he could see of the huge room from on his back. It was definitely Camelot.

"It actually worked Cap." The apparent grin coming through his tone now.

Meliodas slipped his eyes closed with a light exhale, and slowly managed to work his arms to lift him up till he was in a sitting position.

Head tilted down but his grin still present, though much smaller, "thanks to Monspeet."

And it was. If it hadn't been for Monspeet, then Ban and he, most likely never would of made it back. His Dad had been adamant that he would never leave. And yet they had.

In all honesty he hadn't expected Monspeet's **Conjurer** to actually work.

A frown settled, when Ban had suggested to walk away from the Demon King to do some strategizing - the Demon King didn't care if he vanished by death or away from his presence, he never expected to run into any of the 10 commandments, let alone one with a chance (and even wanting to) to aid them.

According to Monspeet, Estarossa had killed him for his commandment. Monspeet offered to help to get him back for saving Derieri and him during the first war. He felt it was right, and that Meliodas had a better chance of stopping the crazed Estarossa.

It was almost like it was some kind of sign.

So Meliodas agreed. It had been tricky but Meliodas had gotten as close as he dared to the gate, coming alone as Ban and wild came from the side. The Demon King's priority was to prevent him from leaving. Should Ban or even Wild escape, it was of no real concern.

Frankly Meliodas expected it to fail as trying to pull off this kind of trick against the Demon King was something that would be considered childs play to him. And yet as he attacked, with Monspeet biding his time for the right moment, an astounding thing accrued.

The Demon King seemed to become distracted. It affected him the very second he registered the change.

Thinking back on it, he recalled a strong arm wrapping tightly around his waist. But he didn't recall actually going through the gate. It would seem, however that Monspeet struck at the right time, and the revelation that hit both him and the Demon King could not have come at a better time.

His hands fisted, Estarossa was Mael.

He really wanted to hit the original Gowther upside the head. And that was only the _start_ of what he wanted to do.

His thoughts stilled as he actually took in his hands, realizing the black on his arms. He hadn't even realized. He focused inwards. He had ended up in his body.

Just like that...

His left hand pressed over his left eye.

Would the version of him without his emotions simply accept them back? Or had he fought to merge back? They both had the same goal. They both would do what they had to do to break Elizabeth's curse.

He couldn't recall... was it possible that such an event would vanish? He supposed it would be bizarre to meet a version of yourself with no emotions, and insist on merging.

"Cap?"

Ban's voice broke his thoughts and he sighed, it wasn't like it mattered.

"Do you feel okay?"

The barely hidden concern had Meliodas darting his gaze to Ban, still dressed in the horrid shirt that he had made while they had been in Purgatory.

His mouth parted to inquire only to close it in the next beat.

How had he not noticed? Being without a physical body for as long as he had been without, he would of figured that was the _first_ thing he would have noticed.

His jaw clenched, how had he not realized that his emotionless self had absorbed 5 commandments?

He quickly assessed himself. His left hand running up through his hair, noting his size was still the same as ever. His power was different. Greater. Not naturally acquired.

He wasn't at all surprised what the version of himself without emotions had done. He had thought of it himself.

And yet...

He flexed his hands, his power had grown , yet his appearance was not effected? Perhaps it hadn't hit him yet... or more likely it was because he only had 5 instead of all 10.

"Cap?" The clear concern was blatant.

Meliodas blinked, oops, he'd forgotten to answer Ban's question.

He took a brief moment to gauge how he felt before his eyes locked with red and nodded. Some of the tension drained out of Ban, as he hooked four fingers into the pockets of his pants.

How did Ban end up in the same place as him? He could see how he ended up in his body, not being physical but Ban had to of come out somewhere. Ban had mentioned he used Hawk's eye to enter Purgatory, which made sense since his dear old dad had been spying on him through Hawk's eye.

He knew Ban couldn't of come out of Hawk as there had been no noise from the pig. Perhaps the gate the Demon King guarded connected to another door? Merlin had once mentioned of the door her father had gone through. Had he used the same door to return? He couldn't recall. Perhaps the gate from Purgatory was magical and connected to a door. And since his emotions would of been drawn to his body, perhaps the gate connected to a door somewhere in Camelot.

He'd make a note to ask Ban of that later, when every second didn't count.

"Did Wild make it through with us?" Meliodas asked, not overly concerned on the outcome, but he had wanted Hawk and Wild to meet.

A derisive snort that had definitely not come from Ban had him shooting up off the floor with a sense of shock and surprise flirting through him. He made sure to keep his face unreadable.

"You get your emotions back and the first thing you ask about is a pig?"

Meliodas simply stared for a beat, noting the tension but judging the other had no immediate intensions to attack inclined his head, "Zeldris."

His brother's eyes narrowed.

When all his brother did was glare at him, Meliodas pushed out his senses to see who was all in the vicinity.

Cusack, Merlin and... Meliodas couldn't stop his eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. Ludoshel. A smirk spread across his face, he wondered just exactly how Ludoshel was handling the revelation that Esatrossa is Mael. He could just picture his face contorting into utter seething hatred at his brother being forced to be a _Demon_. The very thing Ludoshel wanted to wipe from existence.

And on that note, he wondered how Mael was handling it. The smirk vanished as quick as it came. Monspeet had mentioned Eastaross was collecting the Commandments. Being an archangel, trying to absorb Commandments created by the Demon King was bound to badly effect him.

Plus not just anyone could absorb the Commandments. And being of the opposite, the effects were bound to be worse.

He closed his eyes and pushed out his senses. No doubt that Mael would be giving off a significant amount of power. He had at least 2 Commandments, and a possible third. As where Monspeet was, Derieri was.

 _There._

His eyes opened to focus on his younger brother.

"Zeldris? Do you plan to get in my way?"

Zeldris scoffed, his arms coming up to cross over his chest, "you mean now that you have your emotions back?"

Meliodas merely nodded.

For a moment silence reigned as they stared each other down. Then Zeldris sighed, his eyes closing briefly.

"No, so long as you keep your promise."

Meliodas didn't even need to ask what that is. Even if he didn't remember things that his emotionless self had done yet, he knew only one thing that he would have promised Zeldris, and that Zeldris would want.

"Good. See to it that Cusack stays in line."

Zeldris's glare was back, but Meliodas didn't need his words acknowledged. Zeldris wouldn't risk not ensuring Meliodas following through with his promise.

"What about the old man demon?"

Meliodas spared Ban a glance, "Chandler won't be a problem." After all Chandler listened to him.

Zeldris uncrossed his arms, "I'll go keep Ludoshel and his group occupied."

Meliodas felt a sting of disappointment at how quick Zeldris was leaving, but now was not the time to worry about Zeldris. He almost, however, called out to ask Zeldris not to kill anyone. Well except for Ludoshel, frankly he couldn't say he cared whether he died or not.

"So what's the plan Cap~?

Meliodas waited a moment longer, till Zeldris vanished from his gaze before focusing on the question. As much as Mael needed to be stopped he could sense clashes of energy. Mael for the time being was occupied.

"Do you know where the Boar Hat is?" Thinking of his sacred treasure.

Ban snorted, pulling his hands from his pockets, "I'm sure it can't be too hard to find~."

It hadn't taken very long to put distance between then and Camelot. Meliodas had thought to grab Ban and fly, but wanted to avoid being spotted. Plus he'd be easier to take notice of. His power was bigger. Others, or in this case his concern was Ludoshel noticing him would be more likely if he flew.

So they didn't speed till Camelot was but a speck. He suspected the Boar Hat was located near Liones, it was about 40 sum miles. But with their speed, it wouldn't take too long.

As they traveled they said not a word. And before long they hit the outskirts of the Capital.

Ban shifted left towards a cluster of trees, and Meliodas could see the sense in putting the Boar Hat in or around a cluster of trees for protection.

They navigated the forest in silence, Meliodas kept his senses alert, though already knowing no one was nearby. As he passed a tree his eyes faded from black to green. And he stumbled, nearly losing his balance, before catching himself against a thick tree.

His eyes snapped shut as he pressed his free hand to his face, covering one eye.

"Cap?"

Ban's worried tone came through at a distance. He sounded muffled, like his ears were plugged. He felt the air shift near him and knew Ban was close to hovering.

He clenched his teeth into a grind, halting his breathing for a long moment as he let the jarring shock of pain ebb before huffing in a breath as he let his eyes fade back to black.

"What happened?"

Meliodas took a steadying breath before slowly opening his eyes, his hand falling away from his face. A huff escaped him and he glanced to Ban with a twitching mouth, "apparently a side effect."

Ban blinked at him, his frown increasing, but he didn't immediately elaborate as he pushed off the tree. They continued on in silence before they hit a break in the trees, and a wonderful sight greeted them.

The new design of the Boar Hat sat. With a cherry grin, one he hadn't managed to make since he woke up in Camelot, stated "I told you we'd find it easily."

Ban's blank face studied him for a second before glancing to the establishment, "so you did. Guess that means we get to celebrate with drinking when we get a chance."

Meliodas let loose 'sate, sate.'

As they made their way towards the door, Meliodas said, "when I released my powers, it felt like something was going to tear through me." He paused spaces away from the door, hearing Ban do the same.

"I wonder if having my emotions back with 5 Commandments absorbed is a bad combination."

Ban was silent for a moment, digesting the quiet yet serious words, "I don't see why it should."

Meliodas turned to his best friend with an obvious frown.

"You've always had emotions right? It wasn't like you were born without them?" Ban stated.

Meliodas went to add that though true, he didn't feel _everything_ , but Ban continued, "you went to the druids to control your emotions. If anything, your emotions should enable better control. You know what happens if you don't control them. And besides, why did the Demon King want you without your emotions so bad?"

Meliodas blinked at that. But...

"Having certain emotions is limiting. They interfere with the power." Meliodas stated. It was something he had noticed in his long 3000 years.

His eyes darted to the ground and found himself saying, "I noticed that for every year that went by, for every decade that passed, I gradually grew weaker. I grew less capable of controlling my powers."

"That's just because you let the fear get to you Cap."

Meliodas's eyes snapped up to meet solemn red eyes, his mouth parting in a shocked sort of surprise at the words.

Ban gave a slight smirk, "for every one of Her deaths, the more the fear set in. The longer you lived, the longer you knew that the cycle would continue. And though it wouldn't repeat in the same exact way, each time would be different. But the beginning and the end was the same."

Meliodas's eyes were wide in a fashion of shock that didn't happen often.

Ban's smirk shifted into a grin, "after all She didn't make you weaker that very first time, did she?" It was a rhetorical question.

Meliodas gaze dropped, his hands fisted tightly, almost to the point he pierced his skin.

"No," he murmured. She _hadn't._

Why hadn't he been able to see that?

The air shifted slightly as Ban moved past him, the sound of the door opening greeting him, "what do you say we go kick that bearded goat guy's face in~?"

A surging warmth settled in his chest, and Meliodas turned to face the person who risked his very existence to get him free from Purgatory.

"Yea," Meliodas stated confidently with fierce determination on his features.

 _Thank you Ban, he couldn't ask for a better best friend._

~End.

My first time Ever writing a Seven deadly sins fic. So sorry for any OC ness.

I actually planned for this to be longer. But I feel it ends well here. But should the mood strike me, I may come back and continue this. For now, this will be a one-shot.

Oh and I didn't forget to answer the question about Wild, I just didn't answer it. I felt that Wild did come and that's way Zeldris mentions the word pig. As how else would he know Hawk was a pig? But I didn't want to write Wild. So he ran off in search.

I haven't written anything in a long time. Sorry for any grammar errors and such.


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